There is deep division in the Catholic Church. On the one hand, there are the liberals, progressives, modernists. On the other hand, there are the conservatives and traditionalists. This rift affects the very mission of the Church and the salvation of souls. To the ordinary Catholic or casual observer, things may seem to be normal. But it is far from that.
Both sides actually agree on basic principles. But it is the meaning of such principles that is the challenge. Here both sides can be diametrically opposed. Let us look at some aspects.
AGREED: Jesus came for sinners.
Liberal: We are to accept and accompany the sinner, but not talk about his sin, because
it is offensive. We are just to be nice and loving.
Conservative: We are to love the sinner but hate the sin. We accept the sinner but also
try to do what we can to get him out of his sin.
AGREED: God is mercy.
Liberal: God forgives the sinner.
Conservative: God forgives the sinner who is repentant.
AGREED: God is love and what is important is to love.
Liberal: What is important is a loving and committed relationship, even for same-sex couples.
Conservative: What is important is not just love and commitment in a relationship, but. adhering to the righteousness of God. There is no authentic Christian love in a sinful relationship.
AGREED: God loves us as we are.
Liberal: God loves the homosexual and the transgender as he is.
Conservative: God does love us as a human beings, even when mired in sin. But God. does not want us to remain in our sin.
AGREED: God loves and liberates the poor.
Liberal: We look to social action to help the poor and marginalized. We look to such works as the UN’s Social Development Goals (SDGs).
Conservative: We should do what we can to help the poor and alleviate poverty in the world, but we cannot attach the imposition of such things as contraception, abortion and LGBT to the package, as do the SDGs.
AGREED: The mission of the Church is to bring Christ to the world.
Liberal: We must not proselytize (read: convert to the Christian faith) but just live good works and strive for good relationships with other religions. Anyway, all religions lead to the divine.
Conservative: The mission of the Church, as given by Jesus before he ascended into heaven, is to make disciples of all nations and baptize them in the name of the Triune God. This means conversion. Only the Christian faith leads to the one true God.
AGREED: The Church is to proclaim the gospel, which is “good news.”
Liberal: Good news is about social justice, freeing man from poverty,
discrimination, oppression.
Conservative: The authentic good news is liberation not just from injustice but
more especially from sin.
AGREED: The Church is catholic, that is, universal.
Liberal: The Church is to be open to and accepting of all, including grave
sinners and atheists. We are all part of the Communion of Saints.
Conservative: The Church is open to all, especially to sinners, but to be
accepted necessitates repentance of sin and putting our faith in Jesus. The
Communion is that of saints and not grave unrepentant sinners.
AGREED: The Church is diverse, spanning the range of social, cultural and ethnic backgrounds.
Liberal: We should accept different genders and sexual orientations.
Conservative: The Church is for all peoples, but does not accept sin. There are
only two sexes—male and female.
AGREED: All are created equal.
Liberal: Being equal means being the same, and so there is no difference
between men and women and they are interchangeable.
Conservative: All have equal rights that are inalienable, irregardless of caste, religion, race or gender. But not all are the same. Men are men and women
are women. A man cannot become a women, nor vice versa.
AGREED: Every person seeking a blessing can be blessed by the Church.
Liberal: This includes everyone in irregular unions, including same-sex
couples.
Conservative: An individual can be blessed, but not a same-sex couple, since
this means blessing a same-sex union, which is then blessing what is sin.
AGREED: We are to protect the environment.
Liberal: We are to ban fossil fuels and use green energy, to mitigate the
negative effects of climate change. We are to avoid eating meat (as cow farts
emit methane) and just eat bugs.
Conservative: Climate does go up and down, at times to extremes of heat and cold, but it is not man-made. What we eat has nothing to do with climate.
There are very many other aspects of faith where liberals and conservative disagree widely. When liberals talk or teach, be very discerning. The nice words they are saying usually conceal meanings that are diametrically opposed to the authentic Christian faith.
Salve Regina.
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